Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 4:18 am on November 9, 2016 Permalink  

  When I think what I could have done if YouTube videos were in place while I was trudging my way through young parenthood. In the 1940s and 1950s every home was made to feel guilty if there were not an expensive set of encyclopedias sitting on a bookshelf for information seeking instances. Well, we did not have such a set. We actually had something better . . . we had Raymond and Lena as parents. I am sure all that was passed down to the four of us kids did not get handed to them any other way than trial and error. I do so treasure what I did learn at the elbow of those two stalwart individuals.

  Today in my 70s, I can seek and search to my heart’s content watching a demo on a YouTube video just as if I were the only one taking advantage of it. Pause, backup, pause and then maybe see it through to the end. No books are needed to culture up my sewing studio, though I would give up my titanium knees to have Raymond and Lena telling me, “I don’t want to tell you how to do it, but . . . ”

  The modern highway to learning is just fantastic . . . sprinkled with just the right amount of inherited logic.

   
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  Noreen 4:46 am on November 8, 2016 Permalink  

  Shabby Chic 

  

  Sometimes when scrappy quilts can be ho-hum, a bit of design on the border gives it a shabby chic kick. Anything is worth a try.  It also gives the reverse of the quilt some appeal.  This project is getting very close to having the binding applied . . . and of course, it will add a bit of additional color splash.

   
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  Noreen 3:38 am on November 7, 2016 Permalink  

  Nothing says contentment like looking through clean windows. November 6th and it was a joy being outside to get the three sets of patio doors in the porch glistening. Dennis knew I had my head down and would not surface until the rest of the porch was cleaned as well. Even the cats disappeared. The afternoon was not lost on Dennis as the snowblower got moved from the back garage to the garage right off of our back door. Greased, oil changed and idling for a few minutes we should be all set when the weather does decide to turn.

  I had it in my head for some time to make an old time salad. Some cottage cheese, a packet of dry Jello, a can of drained fruit cocktail and mini marshmallows tossed with a bit of whipped cream. Just something different for a change.

  As I was mixing this concoction up I remember calling Elvera one afternoon for our three o’clock coffee session. She giggled when I asked her what she was having with her coffee. Elvera had found a fairly dried out bag of mini marshmallows and was enjoying them with her coffee. Snippets of memories are just plain sweet.

   
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  Noreen 5:13 am on November 6, 2016 Permalink  

  My Dads’ oldest sister Corrinia was thought to have been a spinster until she found her “Allen.” They had a very nice home. They had a very tidy home, with the optimum word being “tidy.” I think the older I am getting the more I am taking after Aunt Corrinia. I like things in their place and I appreciate things being put back in their place when I am through with them. It sure takes the guess work out of the next time I happen to need that item. Perhaps I have finally gotten to the point of working smarter rather than harder. I sure hope so. Each day is so much fun when I can start with a clean plate and not spend half the day trying to find the plate under yesterday’s mess.

   
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  Noreen 5:55 am on November 5, 2016 Permalink  

  No one is harder on me . . . than ME! Stitching is my thing. Stitching that does not measure up to what I had anticipated or expected, causes me to scratch my head, making the gray hair stand on end. I realize not all things will bring my seal of approval, but that does not make it easy to suck it up and move past it.

  I have found I need to walk away from the project as it is laid out on my sewing tables and find something else to do for a bit. When I return and do a quick glance, I may be hard pressed to see the elephant in the project. I had zeroed in on the problem area for so long, that it was all I did see. Interestingly, some of my fellow quilters are into what they call “heirloom quilts.” Nice to look at but don’t you dare expose them to the crunching that a quilt would normally endure while its owner tosses and turns in bed. My quilts become heirlooms as my loved ones use them, abuse them and always feel good snuggling up in them. It is all about perspective.

   
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  Noreen 3:09 am on November 4, 2016 Permalink  

  Lots Going On 

  Lots going on . . . in my thoughts today.  With the sun in my face and lots of determination, I got out the electric leaf blower and started in on the flower gardens to roust those Maple and Oak leaves into the lawn for Dennis to mulch.  As I swayed the leaf blower from side to side, my mind wandered back to days such as these when Carrie and Kevin were small children.  As I would rake leaves during a fall, as we have now, Carrie and Kevin would be nearby settled in on a carpet of leaves nibbling on cookies, enjoying being farm kids.  I do not believe there were “Sippy Cups” at that time, but Tupperware had a great glass with a good lid on it for them to drink from.  Snoopy, our dog, most likely did not go hungry either.

  Many believe we gloss over memories making them more idyllic than they really were.  No, for me it was the best place to be and to bring up kids.  I am not saying it was an easy life, but it was fulfilling.  We never went hungry, we had clothes on our backs and Orlin and I worked because it gave us a lot of self satisfaction: days that were full of livestock chores, field work when the seasons demanded it, and gardens that overflowed with goodies.  Somehow, playing second fiddle, the house got cleaned, laundry got done and there was always a cookie to be had.

  It did seem that the sewing machine was always sitting on a corner of the dining room table until such time that an area in the basement was tricked out.  Hmm.  I have always been meant to having a basement sewing setup.  The kids more times than not played close at hand from where I was in the house. It seemed the natural thing to do: put a used sofa, a piece of carpeting down and several small tables and chairs and call it an extended part of living area for the kids to be near.  Those were totally content times.

  Here I am,  45 to 48 years later and I am still content.  I don’t live vicariously through my children, but I sure do love taking in all that Carrie and Kevin have going on in their lives, admiring their spirit and vitality.  I pinch myself at times as a reminder to not take a single day for granted. There is no such thing as “one day is like the next.”  Each day is an adventure and it cannot be rewound and played over.  Each day is the real deal.

   
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  Noreen 4:46 am on November 3, 2016 Permalink  

  Today we had a road date to Mankato. I had not been out on the highway heading for Mankato for a month. Dennis had his Frozen Chosin Korean Veteran luncheon and I did some grocery shopping for our pantry in the basement. No, it is not as rewarding as the gleaming quart and pint jars that made up our fruit cellar when Carrie and Kevin were small. I just am thankful when I can go down to the basement and always come away with ingredients to make a tasty meal. A day in the 60s with the sun shining during this first week in November is a blessing indeed.

   
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  Noreen 4:53 am on November 2, 2016 Permalink  

  Back at the Fuzz and Threads 

  

  It sure felt good to see if I still knew how to find my way to the sewing studio. There is nothing like a scrappy quilt under the needle to feel like this was just what I needed.

   
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  Noreen 3:21 am on November 1, 2016 Permalink  

  It is Halloween and my ole cowboy just announced he was heading up town to buy some candy . . . just incase we have some kids stop by this evening. Dennis is right. Just because we have not had any kids stop in here during the recent years, how would you tell some little kid “Sorry.” It is hard to believe that the temps for this Halloween are in the high 50s. It is darn damp out. Just one more reason for us to hug ourselves that we do not have to be out in the chilly air taking care of duties that beseeches homeowners. Though . . . it is not beyond the possibilities that if the sun comes out this week and dries some of the leaves, that Dennis and I won’t be out there using the leaf blower to get some leaves into windrows to mulch with the rider mower. Contending with matted wet leaves in the spring of the year has always reminded the two of us of times in the past when it was time to clean out calf pens in the spring after the calves had been penned up all winter. The layers of manure had to come out in layers much like peeling an onion.

  Heck yes, we will be out there to make the most of the last drying days of fall. Old people . . . we are just crazy enough to make the younger ones scratch their heads. We are amazing.

   
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  Noreen 2:32 am on October 31, 2016 Permalink  

  A gray cool day. I still could not resist opening windows on each end of the home for a bit. I had a great conversation with my Aunt Janet last night. She will be 83 in a week or so and is the youngest of my Dad’s siblings. With no family of her own she helps nephew Dan out on the farm. That gal can bake, cook and do garden canning like a team of many more. She is looking forward for the harvest season to come to an end. Less hired hands shuffling their feet under the table for meals.

  On that note, Dennis will be ready for a hardy supper when he gets home from the last day of his trade show. A pot of chili will be waiting for him. Life is so good and so special. I send “Thanks” to heaven many times in a day.